It was initially launched by dost in 2006 to promote and support science, technology, and innovation

Published on Jul 12, 2018

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by Jund Rian A. Doringo

For 35 years, the Technology Application and Promotion Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-TAPI) has gone a long way in promoting technology transfer and commercialization, and invention development in the country.

Dubbed as the marketing arm of the Department, DOST-TAPI lives up to become a strategic partner in advancing national socio-economic growth as it gears towards the RISE: Road to Innovative Science and Technology (S&T) Engagements.

DOST-TAPI has been the premier hub for the promotion of technology transfer and commercialization, and invention development in the Philippines since 1987

By advocating a culture of innovation and promoting globally-competitive and useful technologies, the promotion of an effective and efficient innovation system towards the adoption and utilization of innovations has ever been satisfied.

“DOST-TAPI has a myriad of possibilities in terms of satisfying both financial and technical aspects of program management,” said DOST-TAPI Director, Atty. Marion Ivy D. Decena.

1989-1992: Humble Beginnings

From 1989 to 1992 under the leadership of the very first DOST-TAPI Director, now DOST Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña, the Institute crafted and implemented strategic programs on promotion, marketing, training, manufacturing, and pilot production.

Some of the notable services offered to key stakeholders include the technology fair, technology business incubators, technology training center, manufacturing productivity extension, national invention contest, experts volunteer pool, pilot plant, and marketing and general support to technology transfer and commercialization.

In the 90s, the conduct of the technology fair was able to reach Php 1.5 million in actual sales, Php 3.0 million pesos of orders received, and Php 312 million in negotiations for potential business transactions.

1992-1999: Continuation of the momentum gained

The years 1992 to 1999 under Dr. Maripaz L. Perez’s wing created and operationalized strategic programs which made DOST-TAPI known up until today.

These services include venture financing, investors’ forum, prototype development, display and exhibit center, technology packages production, S&T advisory, agricultural productivity consultancy, and student enterprise development. 

In 1998, the Institute ventured on an international exhibition in Melbourne, Australia which featured unique Filipino products in an effort to become a fully-industrialized nation by the turn of the century.

The year after, the DOST introduced the technological exposition and technology market as a major component of the annual S&T fair through DOST-TAPI, as a recognition to enhance technology transfer and accelerate technological cooperation.

2003-2005: Linkage of key industry partners in S&T

Year 2003 started the leadership of Ma. Lourdes P. Orijola where a dedicated team for invention development was created and information technology (IT) projects were given funding to help IT startups and experts pioneer viable endeavors.

In 2005, international linkages paved the way in establishing an internet-based network that facilitates and promotes regional cooperation in technology transfer and investment.

As a means to establish an effective cooperation network between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and South Korea, the network provided a basis of information exchange and consolidated databases.

This period also linked S&T to the industry through a program that identified specific industry needs or problems aimed at providing S&T intervention through a series of consultations, financial support, industry surveys, and tie-ups.

2006-2007: Conception of mind to market

Under Atty. Josephine R. Santiago’s directorship from 2006 to 2007, global and grassroots innovations took the spotlight which affects the state of technology development in the country and the rest of the world.

Also, the “mind to market” approach was conceived as a set-up that collaborated with various private and government stakeholders to push commercialization of market-driven technologies.  

Characterized by a seamless and holistic approach, the “mind to market” encouraged the upgrading of inventions to quality level through development assistance and monitoring toward gaining market acceptability.

2010-2021: Protection of intangible assets

From 2010-2021, Engr. Edgar I. Garcia encouraged and strengthened public-private partnership to sustain the Institute’s networking  linkages  through forging  mutually-beneficial ties  with  local   private  organizations.

These partnerships ensured the  continuous  implementation  of DOST-TAPI’s banner programs that are relevant to the priorities identified  in  the  National S&T Plan.

In 2011, DOST-TAPI was chosen as one of the Innovation and Technology Support Office (ITSO) that is expected to institute the mechanisms to demystify  and  democratize  the  patent system, and create an effective tool in propelling technological development.

Together with the Intellectual Property Rights Assistance Program (IPRAP), the Institute’s ITSO was able to break records in filing hundreds to thousands of intellectual properties (IP) from 2014 to present.

The year 2014 has also started the enforcement of the collection and gathering of information for the termination, write-off and relief of accountabilities, filing of appropriate civil cases, and other legal remedies under the existing laws for delinquent projects.

Six months after the enforcement, the Institute was able to recover investments reaching Php 2.7 million.

In 2016, DOST-TAPI implemented special projects to support the Philippine Technology Transfer Act of 2009 through the Technology Transfer Day and DOST 500 Projects, which brought negotiations among technology generators and investors, and strengthened IP filings including the Fairness Opinion Board.

2021-Present: Self-sustenance for niche services

With the new administration of Atty. Decena, DOST-TAPI is positioned to internationalize IPs, fund spin-offs and startups for local or international markets, facilitate technology deals, and monitor the amount of upfront fees or royalties in the coming years.

“This is in line with our vision of becoming a strategic partner and advocate of invention and innovation in the country, and becoming a premier hub for the promotion of technology transfer and commercialization by 2030 and beyond,” said Dir. Decena.

In the long run, DOST-TAPI becomes a venture capitalist or business stakeholder and partner institution to fund the commercialization activities of DOST technologies through programs on capital or income-sharing.

These are some of the notable highlights of the Institute in the past 35 years of service to FIlipino key stakeholders.

A virtual celebration of these achievements and aspirations will occur on 31 January 2022 at the DOST-TAPI Facebook page at DOST.TAPI as the Institute unravels the RISE of DOST-TAPI.

For more information, please contact 8837 2071 to 82 local 2151 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Content

Overview

The Philippines is a developing country, characterised by steady population growth combined with robust economic growth. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the Philippines grew at an average annual rate of 5.4% during the decade 2006-2015, with the latest five years registering higher growth of 5.8%. Its GDP growth is stronger than Thailand’s and Malaysia’s, but lower than Indonesia’s and Vietnam’s (World Bank 2016). Together with Thailand, the Philippines are among the ASEAN countries suffering most from the crisis moments in 2009 and 2011 where growth plummeted.

The Philippines has typically been the laggard in foreign direct investments (FDI), but saw a sharp increase in 2012 and again in 2014. It is still only sixth among the ASEAN countries by means of annual FDI inflows and stock, but the growth was impressive: FDI inward stock almost quintupled between 2000 and 2015. Annual inflows in 2015 were four times higher than in 2010 (UNCTAD 2016). 

The Philippines has several long term socio-economic challenges and allocates significant resources to alleviate problems like poverty and exclusion. On the other hand, the investments in R&D have remained very low. While the absolute values of R&D expenditures (Gross domestic expenditure on research and development - GERD) grew over the years due to the strong economic growth, their equivalent ratios to GDP remained almost constant at 0.12% and were even decreasing slightly from 2002 to 2009. Public investments in R&D are growing faster than business expenditures, leaving the government with an increasing share of the overall R&D expenditures. However, the private sector investments still account for a total of 65% of the total investments in R&D (see: Estella, T. “Results of the 2011 Survey of R& Expenditures and Human Resources and Updates on R& Indicators in the Philippines.”, 2013).

Although a large part of the R&D expenditure is channelled to the higher education sector, the higher education system is an inhibiting factor in not being able to produce a sufficient amount of high-skilled workers that the advanced sections of the economy need. The Philippines is also affected by a brain drain of skilled labour and researchers, most notably directed towards the US. Indeed, the human capital and labour productivity are critical issues for the Philippines (see: Ahmed, E. M. / Krishnasamy, G.(2013): Human Capital Investment to Achieve Knowledge-Based Economy in ASEAN5: DEA Applications, Journal of the Knowledge Economy) as other challenges to the innovation system remain, for example infrastructure, low income levels as well as health and primary education. Nevertheless, thanks to institutional improvements, financial market development and innovation, the Philippines have moved from rank 75 (2011-2012) to rank 47 in the Global Competitiveness Index for 2015-2016 (see the Global Competitiveness Report from the World Economic Forum 2015-2016). The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report lists the Philippines as one of the countries with the highest number of early-stage entrepreneurs per total population. Both reports indicate that there is innovative potential in the Philippines’ private sector.

Table 1 The Philippines in the Global Competiveness Index 2011 - 2016

(See Schwab, The Global Competiviness Report 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, WEF)

Table 2 The Philippines in the Global Innovation Index 2011-2015

(See Dutta et al., The Global Innovation Index 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, INSEAD)

Research and Education Policy

 The Philippine Development Plan defines the overarching development strategy for the Philippines and is re-formulated in each Government period. The most recent plan (2011-2016) provides an inclusive growth framework, placing the main focus on employment generation and poverty alleviation. These goals are pursued at local level through a broad policy framework for local economic development (LED), in which several cross-sectoral policies and initiatives are subsumed (see Canadian International Development Agency 2010).

The Philippine Development plan also acknowledges several fundamental weaknesses in terms of competitiveness. The plan emphasizes that strategies shall therefore be pursued to help raise the competitiveness of industries by improving the business environment, raising productivity and efficiency, and inculcating quality consciousness among manufacturers and producers to offer quality goods and services comparable to global brands. Furthermore, the plan identifies a number of economic sectors to be prioritized.

The Philippine STI policy gained a new momentum during the government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2004-2010), whose ten-point agenda stated “technology is the foundation of future economic development” and the current Philippine STI policies build on its legacy.

The Philippine STI policy is guided by the National Science and Technology Plan (NSTP) 2002-2020. The NSTP identifies 12 priority areas for S&T development (the sectors are listed in no particular order): (a) agriculture, forestry and natural resources; (b) health/medical sciences; (c) biotechnology; (d) information and communications technology; (e) microelectronics; (f) materials science and engineering; (g) earth and marine sciences; (h) fisheries and aquaculture; (i) environment; (j) natural disaster mitigation; (k) energy; and (l) manufacturing and process engineering. These area thrusts were identified to serve as a resource allocation guide for scarce S&T resources.

Alongside the National Science and Technology Plan, the Philippine Innovation Strategy “Filipinnovation” (2007) provides a broad framework for innovation policy and is the main national initiative to boost innovation in the country. As the National Science and Technology Plan, it had specific support from President Arroyo and was built upon a public-private partnership. Filipinnovation calls for action in four strategic areas: 1) Strengthening human capital; 2) supporting business incubation and acceleration; 3) regenerating the innovation environment; and 4) upgrading the Philippine mind-set.

The strategy development was headed by the Philippine’s Department for Science and Technology (DOST) and the committee developing the strategy was later re-organised into a Filipinnovation Network. In the process, 10 sectors were defined as of priority and the subsequent process came up with more than 100 priority initiatives, later reduced to 87 and then to 28. However, these initiatives were never officially adopted and the necessary supportive budget was cut, leaving the strategy and its network to play a smaller role than initially envisaged. The strategy is relevant in the Philippine’s policy system, but needs commitment and better integration into national policies.

To better focus STI programmes and other initiatives, DOST has launched an 8-point action agenda (initially in 2006), much in line with Filipinnovation and LED

This includes:

1) Science-based know-how and tools that enable the agriculture sector to raise productivity to world-class standards

2) Innovative, cost-effective and appropriate technologies that enable MSMEs to develop and produce competitive products that meet world-class standards

3) State-of-the-art facilities and capabilities that enable local industries to move up the value chain and attain global competitiveness

4) Idea of the Philippines as a global leader in Information Technology - Business Process Management Services generating direct employment of 1.3mio (520,000 of which in the countryside)

5) ICT-based transformation of governance broadening access to government services (i.e. health and education) for those in the countryside (to bring the Philippines in the top 50 global ranking of e-government by 2016)

6) Improved quality healthcare and quality of life thru science, technology and innovation

7) Highly skilled and globally competitive S&T human resources in support of the national S&T programs (Philippine Science High School/PSHS to be the leading science high school in ASEAN by 2015 and every town to have at least one DOST scholar by 2016)

8) Science-based weather information and climate change scenarios with associated impact assessments that enable concerned agencies to develop appropriate mitigation strategies for a disaster and climate change resilient Philippines (please see more here).

Education is seen to be in a central role in reducing poverty and building national competitiveness. In this regard, the government has for example expanded its core social development strategy, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), which was linked to the Aquino Administration’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program, by including in its coverage children aged 14-18 years of its 3.9 million family-beneficiaries to help them finish high school. About 2.2 million children are expected to benefit from the age expansion.

The higher education sector is guided by the Commission on Higher Education Strategic Plan for 2011-2016. The Plan aims at improving the relevance and upgrading the quality of higher education institutions programmes and systems, at broadening access to high-quality education and at efficiently managing the system. The Commission on Higher Education has also defined a National Higher Education Research Agenda (2009-2018), whereas the National Research Council of the Philippines has developed a National Integrated Basic Research Agenda, both of which aim at improving the quality of research in the country.

There is also a specific plan to boost human capital in the engineering and technology sector, (Engineering Research and Development for Technology plan), implemented by the consortium of the top eight Philippine Universities (Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), Central Luzon State University (CLSU), De La Salle University (DLSU), Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT), Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), University of the Philippines (U.P.) Diliman, U.P. Los Baños and University of San Carlos (USC)). In the course of the plans, the universities aim at delivering high-impact research, attaining a critical mass of Master and Doctoral graduates and upgrading the qualifications of engineers.

Structure of Research System

Initiatives to develop, implement and coordinate Science and Technology (S&T) policies started in 1958 with the creation of the National Science and Development Board.

After a number of restructurings, the actual entity in charge of national S&T policies, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), was created in 1987 and has played an important role in policy formulation, coordination and implementation of national S&T policies ever since. The DOST institutional structure is comprehensive, including the following departments:

Therefore, DOST is not only a policy ministry as such, but also a funding agency and directly responsible for R&D activities and implementing agencies. (please see more on the structure of DOST here).

Figure 1: Department of Science and Technology - Organisational Chart

(source: http://www.dost.gov.ph/index.php/transparency/about-dost/organizational-structure)

An integral part in policy formulation in S&T is played by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), a collegial body operating under DOST. NAST is advising the whole policy landscape, not only DOST. NAST consists of scientists, issues policy statements on STI and engages in round table discussions with the private sector to better include industry views in promoting programmes and initiatives.

Another key policy advisory body is the Congressional Commission on Science, Technology and Engineering. It was created jointly by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Parliament to generate high level recommendations and advice. It undertakes national reviews and assessments of the science, technology and engineering system of the country with a view to enhancing the system’s internal capability to implement policies, providing the necessary funding resources and other infrastructural support, strengthening the linkages with all sectors concerning STI, and assisting the S&T sector in achieving objectives in line with the overall policies.

Alongside DOST, some other ministries also have their own research budgets, such as the Department of Trade and Industry, which is responsible for much of the industry-focussed policies and jointly with DOST co-funds programmes (with DOST as the coordinating agent).

To balance this system of widespread responsibilities, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) was set up. NEDA is the coordinating agency and national planning body and is headed by the President. NEDA aims at promoting rapid and industrial growth and attempts to coordinate the S&T expenditures to support this.  NEDA, for example, attempts to identify projects implementing the objectives of Filipinnovation and line ministries are then mandated to implement these projects or programs, such as DOST in the case of S&T programmes.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is responsible for formulation of policies, plans and programmes for the development of the higher education system in the country. The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority aims at mobilising the full participation of industry, technical and vocational institutions, local government and civil society in formulating skilled manpower development programmes. These programmes are put in place to maximize the contribution to be made by the country’s human resources. 

Research performing organisations

As regards public research, most of it is carried out by public and private research performing universities, as well as by public research organisations operating under DOST and other ministries in key industrial sectors. The main public research performing organisations are the seven R&D institutes: the Advanced Science and Technology Institute, the Food and Nutrition Research Institute, the Forest Products Research and Development Institute, the Industrial Technology Development Institute, the Metals Industry Research and Development Center, the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute and the Philippine Textile Research Institute. The Philippine Institute for Development Studies and the International Rice Research Institute are other important research institutes. Beyond supporting these institutes, the three sectoral planning councils also engage in allocating funds (although small, e.g. PCHRD had in 2013 a budget of 25mio USD) to discrete projects.

There are more than 1400 universities and colleges in the Philippines, many of which are not performing research. The larger research performing universities are the University of the Philippines (UP, with a nation-wide system of campuses), De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila University, University of Santo Tomas and the Mapua Institute of Technology. An interesting aspect of the Filipino university system lies in the fact that all, excepting UP, are private. The Philippine’s top-5 universities also produce most of the graduates.

The Commission on Higher Education has been accrediting universities as centres of excellence (COE) and centres of development (COD) (which may qualify for centre of excellence). The awards have been heavily concentrated to the top-five universities, which also illustrates that the wider system of universities and colleges cannot compete with the few high-class universities. A key requirement for being granted has been that a COE program should have at least seven regular faculty staff members with a Ph.D.

While research and innovation in the business sector is still small, it is still significantly higher than public spending and some innovation is taking place. A survey conducted in 2009 showed that in particular the ICT firms were innovating, with larger firms more likely to innovate than smaller. As stated above, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report lists the Philippines as one of the countries with the highest number of early-stage entrepreneurs per total population

R&D statistics

The investments on R&D have remained very low, at around 0.12% of GDP between 2002 and 2011. Both, the public and the private expenditures were slowly decreasing from 2002 to 2009 and then increased slightly in 2011, with the national R&D expenditures standing at 12,046 million in the year 2011. The private sector investments total 66% of the total investments in R&D, whereas the public investments only account for 34%. Of this latter number, the higher education sector (public and private) contributed 22%, government institutions 17 %, and the non-profit sector 0.40%.  The sector with the highest public R&D spending was agricultural production and technology, whereas the private industries’ spending on R&D was mostly directed to the manufacturing industry.

In 2011, the Philippines had a number of R&D personnel totalling 19,151. This represented an increase of 15% from the level in the previous 2009 survey. Indeed, there has been a significant growth of the R&D personnel in the economy, although it has not improved the ration of researchers per capita. By looking at sector of performance, the private industry sector had almost half or 46% of this total, the higher education sector (including both public and private higher education institutions) had 34%, the government had 19% and the lowest share with only 1% came from private non-profit institutions. Within the higher education sector alone, almost three fourths or 74% were employed in public HEIs or state universities and colleges (SUCs). Table 3 shows key indicators for the Philippine’s economy and R&D sector. Obviously some of the data is missing, as it is neither provided by national Philippine authorities, nor by international organisations, such as the World Bank or UNESCO (status August 2016).

Table 3  Key Indicators – The Philippine’s economy, research, development

Table 4 Key indicators – The Philippine’s business and research links

[3] Ibid.; Current prices  in million pesos and in thousand € in ()

[4] Ibid.; Current prices, in million pesos and in thousand € in ()

[13] National patent applications with inventors from the Philippines; Degelsegger/Philipp (2016): “Analysis of the ASEAN patent activity”, draft report, p.43

Please note: All amounts in EURO in this article are calculated based on the XE Currency converter rates as of August 12, 2016

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